Glasgow lawyer-turned-painter Patricia Cain has won Scotland’s premier arts prize for her radical depictions of the city’s new Riverside Museum.
Patricia, 46, won the £15,000 Aspect Prize after beating three other talented artists with her images of the city’s rapidly changing waterfront. The competition attracted nearly 160 entries.
After turning her back on the legal professional, Patricia studied for a doctorate, which was awarded by the School of Art in 2008.
Westender Patricia said: ‘I am stunned. It’s been a very hard process. I gave up a lot to be able to make art. In the last five years, money has been my biggest worry.
‘We really have been living on the breadline, as most artists do. I went from having a stable job to being a struggling artist. Winning the Aspect Prize makes all the difference in the world.’
Her success was announced at the Fleming Gallery in London by art lover and Taggart actor Alex Norton. Three runners-up, Alec Galloway from Inverclyde, Renfrewshire-born Scot Sinclair who lives in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Glasgow’s Paul Kennedy, each received £5,000.
Chairman of the panel of judges, Charles Jamieson, commented: ‘The confidence and complexity of her paintings made Patricia a clear winner and although judging was difficult, in the end it was the strength and impact of the work itself which swung it in her favour.’

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